Current Trends in Microbial Biotechnology for Sustainable Agriculture
Microbial biotechnology is an emerging field with applications in a broad range of sectors involving food security, human nutrition, plant protection and overall basic research in the agricultural sciences. The environment has been sustaining the burden of mankind from time immemorial, and our indiscriminate use of its resources has led to the degradation of the climate, loss of soil fertility, and the need for sustainable strategies.
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These beneficial microbial communities represent a novel and promising solution for agro-environmental sustainability by providing biofertilizers, bioprotectants, and biostimulants, in addition to mitigating various types of abiotic stress in plants. This book focuses on plant-microbe interactions; the biodiversity of soil and plant microbiomes; and their role in plant growth and soil health. Accordingly, it will be immensely useful to readers working in the biological sciences, especially microbiologists, biochemists and microbial biotechnologists.
The agricultural microbial refers to the microorganisms that are vital for maintaining the soil quality and useful in agriculture. Chemical fertilizers like dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) caused certain long term ill-effects such as excessive soil erosion and transportation of sediments. Also, overuse of such fertilizers led to the destruction of farmer-friendly insects and microorganisms which rendered crops more prone to diseases. Agricultural microbial mainly focuses on the effective microorganisms that positively affect the soil quality, plant health, growth, and yield. Lactobacillus casei and yeast are examples of effective microorganisms. Agriculture microbial enhance crop production and create a sustainable agriculture environment by conserving natural resources. Certain bacteria, fungi, and viruses act as biocontrol agents and biofertilizers and are used to control pests, weeds, and pathogens on plants. Besides, agriculture microbial act as nitrogen fixers and phosphate solubilizers and often provide high yield by controlling diseases in plants.
The agricultural microbial market is anticipated to grow in the forecast period owing to driving factors such as developments in the field of integrated pest management practices coupled with rising trend of organic farming practices. Moreover, low cost of microbial over chemical pesticides and demands for residue-free crop protection products further drive the growth of agricultural microbial market. However, several restraining factors such as shorter shelf life, storage conditions, higher application costs and low adoption rate of microbial persist in the market which negatively influence the agricultural microbial market. Nonetheless, development in the seed treatment segment and large-scale investments in R&D by major players offer lucrative opportunities for the agricultural microbial market during the forecast period.